Tree House
by zElliexmagic
Summary: A tree house for children in the middle of the small patch of woods in the neighborhood was their secret getaway from reality. It was there that they met, and it was there that their love story started. NaLu
1. Chapter 1

**OH MY GOODNESS IT'S BEEN ONE YEAR SINCE I POSTED MY VERY FIRST ONESHOT (12/13)! OH HOW TIME FLIES BY!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Tree House (Ch. 1)

Lucy's vision was blurred and she sobbed like a child, but she kept running anyway. She didn't really know where she was going, but she didn't care. All she knew is that she needed to get away for a while, just to relax and calm down without having to deal with her father.

Jude Heartfilia was the richest and most infamous man in Magnolia. His cruelty to his neighbors was outrageous and everyone avoided the biggest house in the neighborhood. Children who walked to school purposely dodge the street the Heartfilia's live on just so they wouldn't have to deal with his uncouthness when he was getting his mail. Sadly, Jude's reputation was so bad people had figured that his daughter was just as horrible and avoided her as well. Either at Magnolia High or on the streets when Lucy was taking a walk, people would stare at her for a moment before retreating out of her sight.

As much as this pained Lucy, this wasn't why she was crying.

Her father absolutely _loved_ to control his daughter. Immediately after Lucy would arrive home from school, her father would make her sit down and take an hour's worth of business classes. She absolutely _loathed_ those classes. They were so boring and didn't interest her at all, especially when she's brain dead when she arrives home from school; however, the good news is that afterward her business courses, she was free the rest of the day. She wasn't allowed to leave the house often when she wasn't at school, but Jude knows that health is a good thing, so he would let his daughter take walks around the neighborhood, but _only_ the neighborhood; she wasn't allowed to leave. She had to be home for all meals though and if he texted her.

The happiest times are when Jude leaves Magnolia for a business trip and Lucy would live alone at the house. It was then that she would break the rules: after school, she would go shopping and buy new outfits, she would ditch her business classes to write a few chapters in her novel, and turn rock n' roll up as high as it would go, dancing and singing to her heart's content without getting into trouble. She loved these weeks which came pretty often, but what she didn't like about them is that she didn't have anybody to spend them with. Thanks to her father's reputation, she had no friends, which is something she would often complain to her father about, but he would just wave her off and continue his work.

Now, Lucy's father had just revealed that since she was eighteen, she was going to get engaged to a wealthy businessman's son to bring two companies together. She would get engaged after high school was over and the marriage would happen after college. Lucy just didn't want that though. Her last year of high school was almost here! It was in the middle of spring and the pressuring warm weather proved that summer was coming.

Lucy always loved the summer. It was the only time of year that she didn't have to do any school or business work, but this year, she didn't want the summer to ever come. If it did, she would be engaged.

So after school and her business courses; after she heard the news, she ran, leaving the house with tears streaming. With blinks and sobs, she knew she was trespassing in people's backyards, and she wasn't one to do that, but today, she just didn't care.

When she finally stopped to catch her breath, she was in the woods.

There was a forest the size of an acre in the middle of the neighborhood and in the middle of the forest is a small tree house built into a sturdy tree for children who wanted to play. Lucy was standing in front of this tree house and she stared up at it with flashbacks running through her mind.

She loved this tree house when she was a kid, her mother and she would come here everyday to play princesses until dusk. That was before she died though…and it was before her father became so strict.

With tears still streaming down her face, Lucy climbed ladder up into the tree house. When she pulled herself into it, she shut the door – that was like a trap door – and curled into a ball in the corner, crying.

She didn't want to get married.

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"You better fix this, Natsu Dragneel!"

Natsu sighed, not wanting to deal with this situation. He rubbed the top of his cat's head, Happy, as he happily ate his fish before turning to feed Carla, who was his sister's cat.

"Natsu Dragneel, look at me when I'm talking to you!"

Sighing again, Natsu stood up and turned to his mother who had her arms crossed, tapping her foot, an angry face, and a piece of paper in her hands.

"Look at this!" Grandine shoved the paper into her son's face. "Look at these grades! You're highest grade is a C-! You better pick it up, Young Man!"

"What's wrong with a C-?" Natsu densely took the paper, scanning his grade card. The F's and D's made him look like a failure, but he brushed it off.

"You are a Senior in high school, Natsu!" Grandine scolded, ignoring his son's question, "we shouldn't need to be having this conversation!"

"What's going on?" Igneel had just arrived home from work and he could hear his wife's shouting from the garage. Whatever was happening, it wasn't good.

"Look at this!" Natsu's mother snatched the grade card from his hands and shoved it in Igneel's face.

Setting his workbag down and scanning the paper, Igneel's eyes widened before he looked up at Natsu. "What is this?! Natsu Dragneel-"

"Why are you two so worked up over my grades?" Natsu lifted his hand to scratch the back of his pink hair. "I'll pick up my grades during school, okay? It's no big deal; don't get worked up."

"That's exactly what you said last semester!" Grandine scolded, pointing at her son, "but your grades have only _dropped_ more!"

"Natsu," Igneel said walking toward him and handing him his grade card. The head of the Dragneel family remained calm as he spoke. "Your mother is right: you said you'd bring your grades up last semester, but you didn't. Therefore, this time, there's gonna be consequences."

"Okay," Natsu responded, waiting for his father to ground him and take away his Xbox for a week.

"By the end of the school year, when summer begins, if your grades aren't up to where they should be, you have to quit Fairy Tail."

Natsu's eyes widened, " _What?!_ "

"I think that's a reasonable punishment, don't you think, Grandine?"

Natsu's mother nodded immediately. "I agree."

"Y-you can't do that!" Natsu shouted, pointing at his parents.

Fairy Tail is Magnolia's pride and joy. It's a club where Natsu and his friends party, hang out, plan festivals for Magnolia, have special activities, and even spend the night studying for school there. It's so popular, they have they're own clubhouse and everyone is invited. However, to become a full-fledged member, you need their signature fairy tattoo somewhere on your body.

Igneel and Grandine know how much Natsu (and his sister too) love Fairy Tail with all their heart. Taking that away would be like stabbing them in the heart. So now that they threatened him with it, he was sure to pick his grades up _for real_ this time.

"Yes we can," Igneel responded, stern but calm. "If your grades aren't up by the end of the summer, you're out of Fairy Tail."

Natsu growled before clenching his fists tightly. He stood there shaking in anger for a moment before shouting, " _fine!_ " and turning around.

He ran past Wendy who was standing in the doorway listening and exited the back door in the kitchen. He ran down the deck steps before turning right and running into the woods which were exactly right next to his house.

He needed a place to calm down and collect his thoughts. How in the world was he going to raise his grades from F's to A's?! He can't do that within a couple of months! Even if he got a tutor, he wouldn't be able to master every subject in time. This means he would be forced to quit the most important thing in his life. He couldn't lose Fairy Tail! It's helped him through struggles in life more than anyone would ever know. If he lost it, he wouldn't know what to do!

When the view of Natsu's house was blocked from the trees, he slowed down to a walk, silently rubbing the back of his head as another sigh escaped. He was certain no one was going to bother him here. There were hardly any children in the neighborhood so no one ever goes into the forest.

The tree house was Natsu's safe haven. When he needed to get away – take a break from reality – he'd go to the tree house to relax and that's exactly where he was heading right now.

He climbed the ladder and pushed the trap door open and it was only then did he hear the sobs.

Beautiful, watery, chocolate eyes locked with his onyx ones and the two just stared at each other. It was extremely silent except for the strange girl's occasional sniffles as her tears dried on her face.

"Uh," Natsu lamely broke the silence, "Are you…okay?"

The girl blinked before she nodded slowly, wiping her eyes and nose with her hand, "y-yeah…I'm okay…I-I'm okay."

Natsu debated on whether or not pulling himself into the tree house or climbing back down the ladder and leaving the girl alone, but something about her was strangely familiar. "Do I know you?" He asked before he stopped himself.

The girl sniffed again, blinking her red, swollen eyes. "No, you don't…I…don't know that many people."

"Oh?"

Pulling into the tree house and shutting the door, Natsu slid to the ground next to her. "Now you know me." He flashed her his trademark smile and he caught her blushing, but didn't say anything on it. "The name's Natsu."

"Hello Natsu." The girl didn't say her name, hugged her knees tightly to her, setting her chin on them.

"So what's wrong?" Natsu asked.

"It's nothing; I don't really want to talk about it."

"That's okay," Natsu replied before looking around the old building. He's surprised that after all these years, it's sturdy. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"I-I don't know…What are you doing at the tree house?"

"I needed a breather," Natsu replied. "My grades are down… _really_ down…and if they don't pick back up by the end of the school year, when summer starts, my parents will make me quit the thing I love most."

"…And what is the thing you love most, Natsu?"

"Fairy Tail."

"Fairy Tail?" He found himself loving the way her eyes lit up at the famous name. "You're a member of Fairy Tail?"

"Yeah!" Natsu pulled the end of his sleeve up, showing her the dark red emblem on his shoulder.

"You're lucky," she said, "I've always wanted to join that club."

"I can get you in," he offered. "All my friends will like you. You gotta tell me your name first though."

Surprisingly, Natsu watched the sad blonde shake her head, "as much as that sounds great, my father won't like it…and no offense, but I don't want to tell you my name."

"But I gotta call you something!" He protested. "Well…I guess I can call you Weirdo."

"Please don't."

Natsu laughed, "fine fine. Pick a name. You don't have to give me your real one. I understand; I'm a stranger."

The girl bit her lip, turning away for a moment before looking back at him. "Aquarius," she said.

"Aquarius?!" What kind of name was that?

The girl pouted, puffing out one of her cheeks…which was kinda cute. "It's the name of my favorite constellation."

"You like the stars?"

Aquarius nodded, "yes, I do. I like them a lot."

Natsu smirked, "I like fire. The Fourth of July is the best time of the year and you won't _believe_ how many times I've set something on fire in my house. My parents can tell you _all_ about it!" He laughed loudly.

Aquarius smiled at him, giggling along, "you look like someone who likes fire!"

Natsu couldn't help the blush grow on his face. Her smile was adorable and her laugh was…rather addicting. Cracking a joke, Natsu listened to her musical laugh and could feel his heart suddenly beat loudly as a reaction.

"Thanks for cheering me up, Natsu," Aquarius smiled, causing Natsu's blush to deepen a bit.

He lifted his scarf to hide it. "N-no problem."

"I've gotta go."

"What?" Natsu watched as she stood up, opened the trap door, and began to climb down. "but we were…" he trailed off, not knowing what to say next.

He climbed down after her and was relived to see that she hadn't left yet.

"I'm sorry," Aquarius said with a smile, "my dad will be angry if I'm not home for dinner. I liked hanging out with you though, even if it was only for a few minutes. I hope your grades pick up, Natsu. Goodbye." She waved before turning.

"Hey! Wait!" He grabbed her arm, causing a small squeak to escape. Natsu mumbled an apology before letting go and scratched the back of his head as his blush came back. "Will I get to see you again?"

Aquarius blinked before blushing herself, "U-um…" a smile crept onto her face. "I would like that…D-do you want my number?"

Natsu smiled instantly, "Yeah!"

After exchanging numbers, the two just stood there staring at each other. Natsu's eyes traveled across her body; he didn't notice how pretty she was curled up in the dark tree house. Now that she was standing in the light, he could easily see how pretty she was.

"I should go," Aquarius suddenly said, breaking his trance.

"Y-yeah, you should," he flashed her his trademark grin again. "I'll see you later, Aquarius."

"Bye Natsu."

Natsu turned away, but before he took a few steps, he turned back around to look at her, but she was already gone.

He smiled, walking back home; he felt a lot happier than he did earlier.

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 **Ta-da! I hope you enjoyed! My birthday is tomorrow (12/17) so it might be a little while before I post again because I'll be partying with my family and friends! XD Just to let you all know. Plus, it's Christmas so I'll be a little busy.**

 **-zEllie**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Tree house (Ch. 2)

Dinner gave off its usual unpleasant vibe as Lucy and her father silently ate. However, despite the unpleasantness, Lucy couldn't keep the smile off her face.

She just made her first friend in a very long time. Despite the fact that Natsu was easy to talk to and has a thing for getting people to easily smile, he was very cute and she was eager to talk to him again.

She wished she could tell him her name though, but she didn't want to.

It wasn't because he was a stranger; it was because of her father's reputation. It was bad enough Natsu recognized her in the tree house, but thank goodness he didn't dwell on that thought. If she gave him her name, just her first name even, he could easy figure that she's a Heartfilia and he wouldn't speak to her again.

She didn't want to lose her first friend…would she even call him a friend? They had met not even an hour ago.

"What are you smiling about, Lucy?"

Lucy jumped in her seat, being pulled from her thoughts and glanced at her father. "It's nothing," she replied. "I'm just happy."

"I see. It's about your engagement in a couple of months. Yes?"

Lucy's smile dropped like a bomb from her face. "U-uh…no."

Jude looked at his daughter before taking a bite of food, "I know it's hard to believe Lucy, but I'm doing what's best for us."

Lucy narrowed her eyes, "by arranging a marriage? It's best for _you_ ; for your business! It's to combine two companies! Mom wouldn't have-"

Jude slammed his fist off the table loudly. Lucy jumped in fear as the deadly silence echoed through the house.

"Do not…" Jude's voice was dark. "Do not speak of your mother in front of me."

Biting her lip hard and blinking back tears, Lucy stood up, leaving her half-eaten food and running upstairs to her room. She threw herself onto her bed, burying her face into her pillow, and sobbed like a baby for the second time that day. She seemed to lay there for hours as her sobs calmed down. Lucy was able to find what strength she had left in her to pull herself up to brush her teeth and pull her pajamas on. It was dark now and she wanted to hit the hay; she wanted to get this day over with.

The moment her tear stained face hit the pillow again, she heard a buzz.

Raising an eyebrow, Lucy reached toward her nightstand for her phone as she snuggled under her covers.

"Hey," the text read. It was from Natsu.

A smile crept onto her face as she turned her lamp off and texted back, "hey."

Immediately, he responded, "what are you doing?"

"Going to bed."

"Really? It's like nine-thirty…and it's in the middle of Spring Break. You should be up partying."

Lucy hesitated on what to say back as the bright light from her phone shined into her face. "I'm tired," she simply said.

It was Natsu's turn to hesitate. She saw him type something and then stopped. She waited a moment before he sent something: "Okay."

Lucy shook her heard chuckling to herself. Could this be any more awkward? "What are you doing?" She sent him, "not sleeping I imagine."

"How did you know?"

"Lol," Lucy sent back, giggling to herself.

"I'm watching my cats interact…It's pretty entertaining."

"You have cats?!" Lucy's smile brightened. "Send me a pic!"

A few moments later, a picture was sent. Lucy found herself mumbling, "aww" as she looked at it. There was a blue cat and a white one. It seemed the blue was trying to share his fish with the white, but the stubborn cat seemed like it was pouting and refusing. It was rather cute.

"The white is Carla, my sister's cat and the blue is my cat, Happy."

"Why is your cat blue?"

"Gray thought it would be funny to prank me by dying his fur blue, but I liked more than his natural color."

"Who's Gray?"

"My rival. He's a stripper."

Lucy gapped and found herself laughing again. "A stripper?!"

"Yeah! He randomly and unconsciously takes his clothes off all the time! All my friends and I are used to it, but it's still funny to laugh at him."

Lucy shook her head. "How funny."

"It is."

Lucy bit her lip before asking, "so what is Fairy Tail like exactly?"

And Natsu spammed her phone with texts on his experiences in Fairy Tail.

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Natsu's thumbs were tired and he literally had to take a breath when he finished. He was currently lying on the couch with Happy and Carla in front of him. When his phone buzzed he lifted it up immediately:

"Thanks for spamming my phone."

He laughed. After what seemed like an hour texting up stories that's happened to him, that's all she has to say? He sent her his thoughts.

"Lol," Aquarius replied, "I liked hearing all your experiences, but I didn't expect the spam."

"What did you want me to say? 'It's great'?"

"No, I was expecting you to talk about the things you guys do, but I got it all from your texts."

"Who're you texting, Natsu?"

Natsu jumped from his position on the couch and yelped, causing Happy and Carla to run off.

"Woah! Wendy! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Wendy leaned against the couch behind her older brother. "Who're you texting?"

"No one," Natsu pouted, "why?"

"Nothing," she responded, "you just don't normally text our friends so I'm just wondering…and I can hear you laughing from my room upstairs."

"I'm texting no one important!" Natsu said, "can you leave me in peace now?"

Wendy suddenly began smirking and looked away with a hand on her mouth, "Natsu has a cru~sh!" She sang.

"N-no, I don't!" He shouted, his face going red.

"If you don't, then why won't you tell me who're you texting?"

"Because I don't need to."

"Tell me her name."

"Whoever said I was texting a girl?!"

Wendy's eyes widened in horror, "you have a crush on a _boy?!_ "

" _No!_ " Natsu shouted. "I don't have a crush on _anybody!_ "

"Then why won't you tell me?!"

"Because it's none of your business! Can you leave me alone now?" Natsu crossed his arms, pouting at her.

Wendy just pouted right back, "fine." She turned to walk back up to her room, mumbling, "I was just wondering if you were texting Romeo or something…"

Natsu smirked, turning to her, "ah! I see how it is! I'm not the one with the crush, it's _you_."

Wendy turned beet red, "it's been fun talking to you, Natsu, but I'm gonna go to sleep now. Goodnight!"

Natsu laughed as the young blue haired girl darted upstairs and slammed the door shut. He got her good.

Turning back to his phone he realized that Aquarius had bid him goodnight. He groaned in annoyance as he shut off his phone.

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The next day, Natsu dragged himself into Fairy Tail, with Wendy by his side, groaning in annoyance. There were two things that were plaguing his mind last night which caused him to lose sleep.

The first: how in the world was he going to raise his grades? He should find a tutor first obviously, but the question is who? He didn't want any of his friends to help him; it would just be very embarrassing and humiliating for them to know how far behind he is. How he would do this within a couple of months was beyond him.

The second, and the thing that occupied him most was Aquarius. Her beautiful golden hair and chocolate eyes kept flashing in his mind and he found himself smiling. Her laugh was music to his ears and her smile just made the sun shine brighter. There was some wonderful edge to her that drew him to her and he wanted to get to know her more. He wanted her to be in Fairy Tail with all his friends.

And most of all, he wanted to know her name.

"What's wrong with you, Flame Brain?"

That was undoubtedly Gray Fullbuster. Like the icy stripper, Natsu was just as happy to see him as well.

Natsu groaned in response.

"He didn't get much sleep last night," Wendy answered for him. She had asked the same question when Natsu nearly fell down the stairs back at home.

"Why not?"

Wendy smirked, "it might be because of his crush."

Gray's eyes widened, "Magma Breath has a crush?!" He shot his head toward Natsu who walked by and slumped onto a chair. His outburst caused many shocked eyes to glance his way. "There's something you don't hear everyday!" Gray burst into laughter.

Natsu, without looking at them, pointed to Wendy, "for the last time, I do _not_ have a crush."

"I think you do," Wendy teased.

"Oh yeah?" Natsu glanced at her, "why don't I just go talk to you-know-who and see if he likes you back?"

Wendy erupted into a shade of red, "p-p-please don't!"

It was Wendy's turn to deal with Gray's teasing.

"What's wrong, Natsu?" Mira walked by handing Cana another mug of ale before turning to him.

"Everything…"

Mira gave him a strange look before sitting across from him, "what's up?"

Like said before, Natsu would be very embarrassed if his friends knew how far behind he was, but Mira was like a second mother to Natsu despite their close age. Sighing, he explained his situation about his grades.

"If your grades aren't up by the end of school, you'll have to quit Fairy Tail?" Mira sadly placed a worried hand on her face when Natsu nodded. "You need a tutor I'm suspecting?"

Natsu nodded again.

"I can let Erza know."

Natsu shivered, "no. The last time Erza tutored me, I went home stiff and sore. Please don't."

Mira giggled, "I'm just kidding. I can let the teachers at school know. They could hook you up with someone who would help you."

Natsu thought about it and then nodded, "that would be very helpful. Thanks a million, Mira."

"It's no problem," she smiled before getting up to take Macao and Wakaba's order.

Suddenly, Natsu's phone in his pocket vibrated.

He immediately pulled it out, smiling when he saw that it was from Aquarius.

"Hey Natsu. Sorry I kinda ditched you last night," the text read.

"It's okay, I'll forgive you this time, but not next time," Natsu sent back, teasing her.

"Lol," she replied. "So what are you doing?"

"I'm sitting in Fairy Tail texting my new friend."

"You're in Fairy Tail? What about all your friends?"

"Who cares. I'm talking to you right now."

Aquarius began to type something, but stopped a moment later. She didn't answer so Natsu asked a question, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing special."

"Nothing special?" He echoed questionably. It was hard to believe that she was doing "nothing special" when she, herself, was special. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
"It means I'm bored and have no one to talk to."

"What about your friends?" Natsu asked.

"I have no friends, not since I was seven. It's just you. You're the only person I talk to, if you don't count my dad that is."

Natsu blinked a few times. She treated the fact like it was no big deal. Natsu really struggled without any friends when he was young so when he met Gramps, Fairy Tail saved him. Finding someone without friends really brought horrible flashbacks back and to think Aquarius had been through it almost her whole life. Now, more than ever, he wanted her to come to Fairy Tail. He wanted her to know what the warmth of having friends felt like. He wanted her to be saved by the same thing he was saved by: Fairy Tail. More than before, he wanted to know her like they grew up together. And it drove him nuts because that wasn't the case…he didn't even know her name.

"I want to know your name," he confessed after moments of silence.

"I don't want you to know my name," she instantly replied. "If I told you, you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore."

The fact made him boil with rage, but he kept his anger at a level. "Try me," he replied.

Aquarius didn't respond. After ten minutes, Natsu sighed, putting his phone away.

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 **I hope you enjoyed the second chapter!**

 **-zEllie**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Tree House (Ch. 3)

"Who in the world chews on iron?!"

Natsu could almost hear Aquarius' laughing through the phone. He laughed at the text, "Well, Gajeel does! He's totally weird, but not as weird as you that is."

"Hey!"

Natsu laughed again.

"So he's got a crush on a girl named Levy, you say?" Aquarius sent.

"Yeah," he replied. "You'd like Levy. She loves read, she's super smart, and a total nerd. You'd fit in with her."

"Did you just underhandedly call me a nerd?"

"…Maybe."

"Natsu!"

"*sticks tongue out*."

"*sighs* so childish…"

"Lol."

Lol was right: Natsu was laughing rather loudly. There wasn't anything funny that was just spoken, but he could see Aquarius' reactions through the phone and it was amusing. For some reason, irritating her was _too_ much fun!

"So how's it coming on your grades? What do you plan on doing?"

"My friend is going to set me up with a tutor at school," Natsu replied. "I'll be staying late an hour each day of the week! Ugh!"

"As torturous as that is, it's better than being kicked out of Fairy Tail."

"Ain't that the truth!"

Natsu flashed his signature grin even though Aquarius wasn't in front of him to see it.

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"He's got a girlfriend," Mira nodded firmly, coming to that conclusion.

"You kidding me?" Gray rested his head on his hand, looking over at Natsu with a bored expression. The pink haired teenager was currently sitting across the room, grinning madly at his phone, oblivious to the suspicious looks his friends gave him. "Flame Brain? Finding a _girlfriend?_ Give me a break…"

"He's been texting the same person for _three whole days_ , Gray," Levy said, sitting next to him. Mira was standing behind the bar, where Gray and the blue haired girl were sitting at, washing dishes, but her attention was on Natsu. "He's done nothing but sit there and text his girlfriend! The only attention we get from him is when we all brawl, but even then, when he gets a text, he immediately sits back down. It's gotta be his girlfriend; who else would gain _that_ much attention from him?"

Gray scoffed, "I still don't think he has a girlfriend. Who would want to date a dense idiot like him? I don't even think it's a girl. It's gotta be his cousin or something."

"His cousin is Gajeel," Levy pointed out.

"On his mom's side, of course."

"His mom is an only child," Mira said, keeping her eyes on Natsu. "I think he has a girlfriend. Wendy says that even at home, he's texting her _all the time_."

Levy bit her lip, groaning, "this is going to drive me nuts! I need to know who he's talking to!"

"We _all_ want to know who he's talking to," Cana appeared at their side, ordering another beer no less. "We'll know eventually," she sat down on the bar stool next to Levy. "You know what, someone needs go behind him and read his texts."

"But that's rude," Levy pointed out.

"So what?" Gray stood up, "I'll go do it."

"If he catches you, you're dead," Cana obviously pointed out.

"Doubt it. Flame Brain doesn't hold a candle to me," Gray ended his bragging with a chuckle, walking over to Natsu.

Levy opened her mouth to say that their strength was equal, but decided against it. There was no point in wasting her breath.

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"So how about you?" Natsu asked her, remembering the day they met. "Whatever was bothering you a couple days ago…is it going okay?"

"eh…" Natsu frowned as Aquarius sent something else, "I mean nothing's changed and nothing _will_ change. What's gonna happen is gonna happen whether I like it or not. I'm just glad I have you to talk to and keep my mind off it."

"Don't give up hope like that. If you just wait, something good will happen," he paused before sending something else. "If you tell me, maybe I could help you."

Aquarius typed something, and then stopped and Natsu waited a few moments in awkward silence.

"Or you don't have to," he quickly sent back. "I mean, I don't want to force you or anything, I was just offering."

"I know," she replied. "I appreciate your concern, Natsu. Thanks a lot…but I don't really wanna talk about it."

"That's okay. I'm sorry I brought it up."

"It's okay."

Things dropped back into the awkward silence, which was when he was totally off guard.

"Got it!"

Suddenly, Natsu's phone was ripped from his hands.

"Let's see who you've been texting, shall we?" It was Gray. He stood away from Natsu, knowing he was going to charge for his phone, and scrolled up. "Who the heck is Aquarius and what kind of name is that?!"

" _Gray!_ Give me back my phone!"

As Gray predicted, Natsu launched at him. He threw a punch at his face before reaching for his phone, but Gray was able to dodge both his swings. His eyes widened, "so you _are_ talking to a girl! I guess I was wrong; who knew you'd get a girlfriend, Flame Brain? She must be into idiots!"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Natsu was able to sock him in the gut, but Gray recovered quickly and jumped away before he attempted to reach his phone again. "And her name is not Aquarius!"

"Then what is her name then?" Gray continued to dodge Natsu's punches.

"I don't know!"

Before Gray could say anything, Natsu's phone in his hand buzzed. "Let's see what she said," the smirk on his face was like no other. Everyone in Fairy Tail was watching the scene excitedly; finally, they were finding out who Natsu texted for endless hours. Some of them whispering quietly; it seemed most of them were correct: Natsu was texting a girl. " 'Can I ask you something?' she says." To the pink haired boy's horror, Gray began to text back, " 'no of course you can't.' "

"Give me my phone, Snowman!" Natsu dove for his phone again, but before his fist met his face, he was hit in the head, _hard_.

"That's enough!" It was Erza who was standing over the two boys who had large bumps on their heads. "Gray, give Natsu back his cell phone."

Gray looked up at her from the ground, "but Erza-"

" _Now!_ "

"A-aye!"

Gray shoved Natsu his cell phone who glanced at it in horror, "You really sent that text?!"

"What's her name?" Gray asked, ignoring his accusation.

"I don't know her name!" The words hurt; he's been dying to know her name and he's asked her multiple times, but Aquarius never told him.

"Why not?"

"Don't fight!" Erza snapped, stepping between them with a killer look in her eyes. Natsu obliged, sitting back down at a table and immediately sending texts:

"Hey, I'm sorry! That wasn't me it was Gray! He stole my phone and sent that to you! You can ask me anything, Aquarius."

Natsu impatiently waited, but Aquarius didn't respond.

"Really, I didn't send that text! It wasn't me!"

He bit his lip, but she never responded. Sighing in frustration, he turned off his phone.

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Lucy dragged herself into school the following Monday, exhausted. She was putting all her homework she had over the break into her backpack last night when she saw she still had a take-home science test to do. Lucy wasn't one to wait at the last minute, but she totally forgot about that test and stayed up late finishing it.

Pre-Calculus was always the first class of the day, which Lucy always liked. It was her least favorite class and she wanted to get it over with, but today she was tempted to ditch. She had a hard time keeping her eyes open. She didn't even care that people were fleeing the area when she walked by: a fact that usually bothers her.

Before she could enter her class though, the principle calling her name got her attention.

"Excuse me, Miss Heartfilia."

Lucy turned to him. "Yes?"

"Are you busy frequently?"

"Well, n-no," Lucy cocked her head to the side questionably. "Why do you ask?"

"There's a student who needs a tutor. I was hoping you'd be able to help him."

"Yeah, of course I can help him," she replied, "what does he need help him? Math?"

"Every subject; his grades are pretty bad, which is why I was hoping you could tutor him everyday after school for an hour."  
"Yeah, I can. What's his name?"

"Natsu Dragneel."

Lucy froze.

"I'll let him know to meet you in the library after school today."

Lucy barely heard him as he walked away; she was suddenly a sweaty mess. " _I'm tutoring Natsu?! He'll know who I am then! He won't talk to me anymore!_ "

She let herself panic for a spit second before she calmed down. Thankfully, Lucy had decided to wear a jacket to school.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The last class of the day had ended and Natsu was ready to get home to start talking to Aquarius, but before he could take a step out of the classroom, the principle appeared.

"I was able to get you a tutor, Mr. Dragneel."

Oh. That's right, his tutor. Sadly, their endless conversations would have to wait.

"You did? Great! Thanks!" He flashed him his signature grin. "Appreciate it!"

"Her name is Lucy Heartfilia. She's waiting for you in the library right now."

Natsu froze, "w-what?"

"Is there a problem?"

"N-no, but-"

"Good," the principle turned away. "I need to get back to my office now."

Natsu stood there, shocked, processing everything. When it all finally clicked, all the students had cleared out of the hallways and he shouted, "WHY HER?!"

Why Lucy Heartfilia?! It might as well be Erza! Lucy Heartfilia has got to be the meanest girl in Magnolia! Of course, that's the rumors – Natsu has never had any run-in with either of the Heartfilia's – but still! Why did it have to be her?

Groaning in frustration, Natsu dragged himself to the library. " _Let's get this over with…_ " this is going to be the worst hour of his life. Ugh!

When he entered the library, no one was there, except for her that it. She had a hood over her head so he couldn't see her face, but the workbooks in front of her gave away the fact that she was his tutor. Natsu let a sigh before walking over to her.

"Hey," he said lamely setting his bag on a chair before looking at her…and pausing.

He knew that golden hair.

It couldn't be…he had only seen her once: when they met, but he knew that blonde hair.

Natsu raised an eyebrow before leaning his head down to get a better look, but she turned away.

Reaching forward, he pulled off her hood and his suspicions were confirmed, "Aquarius?"

Slowly, Aquarius lifted her head to look at him with eyes that was his favorite shade of brown.

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 **Dun! Dun! Dunnnn! Ha ha! I love cliffhangers! XD**

 **-zEllie**


	4. Chapter 4

**I see that you all were disappointed with my cliffhanger! XD Not to worry, Tree House is fun to write so I've been focusing on this for now. When I hit the horrible writers' block, I'll focus on one of my other projects – probably Beauty and the Beast.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Tree House (Ch. 4)

Reaching forward, Natsu pulled off her hood and his suspicions were confirmed, "Aquarius?"

Slowly, Aquarius lifted her head to look at him with eyes that were his favorite shade of brown.

Natsu blinked several times, trying to piece together the puzzle. He barely heard her hang her head in shame, let out a sob, and cover her face with her hands.

"I'm sorry!" She sobbed, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't want you to know my name! I knew you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore! If you knew my name you would stop talking to me so I didn't tell you!"

Natsu blinked once more; Lucy Heartfilia is Aquarius….Aquarius' name is Lucy Heartfilia…

Suddenly, Lucy heard a snicker and curiously, she looked up.

Natsu snicker turned into a chuckle and his chuckle became a doubled-over laughing fit. Lucy blinked confusingly as she wiped her eyes with her hands and watched as he caught his breath. He was so loud, they would've been kicked out of the library if there was no one in there with them.

" _That_ was why you wouldn't tell me?" He said when he settled down in his chair across from her, "I get it now. I see… _That's_ why you were so familiar."

Lucy blinked, "You…don't believe the rumors?"

"Oh I believed the rumors," Natsu said, "I believed every single one of them – I don't anymore that is. You're _way_ too nice for your own good!"

"…So you'll…still be my friend?" The smile on her face grew.

"How can I stop being friends with a weirdo like you?"

Her smile would've grown, and she would've cheered, if she didn't catch the word "weirdo". "Hey!" She pouted, puffing out her cheek, an act Natsu found _completely_ adorable.

"Seriously though," he asked, "you wouldn't tell me your name because your last name is Heartfilia?"

Lucy nodded.

"Because of the lies spreading around?"

"They're not lies…but they're not the truth either," Lucy drew patterns on the table to keep herself from looking at him. "Everything you hear about my dad is most likely true – since my dad's reputation is horrible, everybody thinks I'm just as bad. Do you not know how much it bothers me to walk through the neighborhood or school only to receive dirty looks before everyone turns away? You're the only person who didn't recognize me and you're the only one who actually wants to be my friend."

When it was silent, Lucy looked up at him, only to be met by an angry face. Natsu narrowed his eyes at the ground. The rumors were inverted – at least the rumors of Lucy: She wasn't mean to everyone, everyone was mean to her. He was disappointed in everyone in Magnolia, all his friends in Fairy Tail, and most of all, himself. Natsu had never been one to judge people right off the bat by what they're wearing or how they speak, but he hated someone because of false rumors.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"What are you apologizing for?" She smiled at him, "I just said you're the only one who likes me."

He smiled back at her, "well that'll change, don't worry." There was a moment of silence before Natsu spoke again, "So, what you were crying about when we met…is the rumors why?"

Lucy shook her head, "No, but that _has_ bothered me for a long time."

"Then what's wrong?"

She shook her head again, looking away, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

The former conversation they had in text brought something that had been plaguing Natsu's mind back and he gasped, causing Lucy to jump.

"That reminds me!" He shouted, eyes wild, "last night, you asked if you could ask me something and you received a text that said, 'no you can't.' That wasn't me! That was Gray! He stole my phone and sent that! I swear I didn't send that to you."

"I know," she said, "I got your texts about it and right when I was about to reply, my phone died. Sorry." Lucy sweat dropped, "I knew you didn't send that even before your excuses. You've been so nice the past days, I figured someone stole your phone." She laughed.

Natsu sighed in relief, "good, I figured I insulted you and you didn't want to talk to me anymore."

Lucy giggled again, "well, it looks like we have the same issue there, huh?"

Natsu smiled, "you know what, we should make a promise to each other."

She raised her eyebrows, "a promise?"

"Yeah, I promise to trust you, if you promise to trust me. That way, no matter what happens, we'll be friends forever."

The cheesy pact that little girl scouts would make made Lucy start laughing, but she loved it and she loved the meaning behind his words.

"Okay," She said, still giggling a bit, "I promise to trust you too, Natsu. Let's shake on it!"

And the two struck the deal.

"So what did you want to ask me last night, Lucy?"

Lucy stiffened; it was the first time Natsu said her name – her _real_ name. It was like a whisper – a prayer on his lips and she loved the way he would gently say it. She almost didn't hear his question.

"W-what?"

"What did you want to ask me last night, Lucy?" She shivered again, "Before your phone died."

Lucy blinked, "oh that! I was going to ask you if you could meet me at the tree house later that day. I needed to get away from my dad…." She trailed off.

"I would've said yes," Natsu smiled widely. "We could go there after we're done here if that's alright."

"I can't after this, but I can later tonight."

"Alright, sounds good then!" He smiled wider.

Lucy smiled back, "okay, let's get started."

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Lucy finished her business classes as soon as she could and immediately texted Natsu afterwards, telling him that she's free the rest of the day. However, it turned out Natsu had something suddenly come up at his house and he couldn't at the moment. Sadly, Lucy dealt with the loneliness of the house. Jude was always working and never spent time with her, leaving her alone. Sometimes, he would come down from his office upstairs and make sure Lucy had done her business class for the day, but most of the time, he's buried in his computer.

"Lucy," Jude suddenly called, yanking her from her thoughts.

She stood up from the desk she was sitting at and went upstairs to his office, "you called, Father?"

"Yes," he replied. "I'm leaving on a business trip tomorrow morning when you go to school."

Lucy mentally cheered, but kept her expression normal, "okay. Be careful."

"I will, but this business trip will be extra long. There are two places I need to be for meetings, so I will be away for two weeks rather than one. You'll be okay here, won't you?"

Lucy couldn't believe it. Her dad would be gone for _two_ weeks rather than one?! Awesome! A smile attempted to creep on her face, but she held it down for the time being, "yeah, I'll be okay here."

"Don't forget about your business course."  
"I won't."

As Lucy left the room, she pumped a fist in the air, "yes!" She silently cheered and did a little dance. Two weeks without dad! Woo hoo!

When she reached her room, she grabbed her phone to tell Natsu the news excitedly:

"Hey Natsu! You won't believe this! My dad is leaving on a business trip for two whole weeks! I'll be free to do whatever! I'm so happy!"

Lucy waited a moment before he responded…weirdly:

"Hello?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow before responding awkwardly, "hi?" Why did he send that?

"Oh hi! Are you Aquarius? I'm not Natsu; I'm his little sister, Wendy."

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"Yeah, I'm Aquarius. Nice to meet you, Wendy! My real name is Lucy."

Wendy quickly turned before sitting down on the couch, making sure Natsu couldn't see her messing with his phone. Luckily, his back was turned and he was busy with Grandine and Igneel. All three of them were currently looking at Carla.

Wendy knew her real name was Lucy; Natsu had already changed it on the contacts on his phone, but she replied anyway, "it's nice to meet you too. Sorry I'm bothering you, but I've just been dying to know who my brother has been talking to. All our friends have."

"It's okay! You're not bothering me at all, Wendy. I'm actually a little bored so I'm happy to be talking to you."

"Yea! I'm glad I didn't interrupt something. Are you Natsu's secret girlfriend?" Wendy didn't know where that courage suddenly came from, but as soon as she sent that, she mentally kicked herself. Why did she ask that?!

"NO!" Lucy immediately replied, "No way! We're just friends! We met about five days ago and have been texting since. I'm not his girlfriend."

"Sorry!" Wendy replied, looking over her shoulder again to make sure Natsu didn't see her. "All our friends have been thinking that so I asked! Sorry!"

"It's okay! I understand why you thought that :)."

Wendy smiled, "I have a question: where did 'Aquarius' come from?"

"When we first met, I didn't want to tell him my name so he called me that, but he found out what it really was earlier today."

"Ah! I see."

"Hey Wendy!" Natsu suddenly yelled, coming back into the room, "it seems Carla really _is_ going to have kittens!"

Wendy gasped, "oh no! Natsu's coming back! I gotta go! See ya!"

Wendy barely saw Lucy's reply before throwing her brother's phone on the couch. "Alright! See you later, Wendy!" Lucy's text said.

"That's great!" Wendy yelled back as Natsu walked up next to her. She was happy she wasn't caught, but by the look on his face, she could see that her brother was suspicious.

"What were you doing in here?" He asked.

"Nothing!" Wendy exclaimed too quickly and she changed the subject before he said anything else. "Can we go to Fairy Tail, Natsu? I'm really bored."

"Uh…" Natsu glanced at his phone and Wendy knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Please?"

"W-well, okay fine…"

"Yea!"

Wendy crawled into Natsu's truck as her brother glanced at his phone. Wendy smirked as he sent a text before he followed her.

"Did you tell Mom and Dad we're leaving?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah, I did. Let's go."

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As soon as Natsu and Wendy arrived, the little blue haired girl sat down at the bar. Gray, Mira, Levy, and Cana gathered around.

"Well?" Mira pressed.

"Her real name is Lucy and no, she's not his girlfriend."

Cana, Levy, and Mira groaned; it seems they were wrong. Gray, however, smirked, "I knew it! Flame Brain can't get a girl if his life depended on it!"

"Lucy said they met five days ago and that they've been texting ever since. She said she used the name 'Aquarius' because she didn't want him to know what her real name was, but Natsu found out what it was earlier today."

"Why didn't she want him to know her name?" Cana asked.

"I don't know," Wendy replied, "I didn't ask. That's all I know, Natsu came back after that moment."

Mira put a finger to her chin and you could literally see the gears turning in her head, "Lucy, huh?...Ah! I ship them!" She put her hands together in joy.

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It's been a couple of hours since Natsu and Wendy arrived at Fairy Tail and after many brawls and chats, Natsu's phone went off. He immediately opened it.

"I'm so bored…." Lucy sent him.

"You wanna hang out?" He replied, "I'm free. We could meet at the tree house."

"Sounds great. Can I bring a board game?"

"Yeah sure! See you in a bit!"

Natsu smiled widely as he called Wendy, "Wendy, we gotta go!"

His sister turned to him, "what why?"

"We just do!"

"B-but…" Wendy is in the middle of talking to Romeo. She hardly gets the courage to speak to him, so when she does, it's very rare. Natsu didn't really want to take her from him, but he really wanted to talk to Lucy.

"I can take her home, Natsu," Mira appeared next to him. "It's no big deal."  
"Okay, sounds good."

Wendy nodded and turned back to Romeo, "see you later, Natsu."

"See you guys later," he replied, walking away.

"You're leaving so soon, Flame Brain?" Gray unconsciously chucked his shirt off, but he paid it no mind.

"Yeah, I got something to do," he replied. "See you at school tomorrow, Ice Princess."

"See ya, Pryo! Watch out for the Heartfilia's!"

Natsu froze.

Everyone said that all the time; it's the biggest meme in Magnolia: "watch out for the Heartfilia's", "don't run into the Heartfilia's on your way home", "be careful, you don't want the Heartfilia's to get you". Everyone said it all the time and Natsu, himself, had his fair share of saying them, but now, it's just insulting. Now that he knows Lucy Heartfilia was the sweetest girl alive, that meme put a foul taste in his mouth.

"…Yeah…see you, Gray."

Slowly, Natsu made his way to his truck.

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 **I hope you enjoyed!**

 **-zEllie**


	5. Chapter 5

**THAT MANGA CHAPTER! KILL ME NOW! NATSU BETTER COME BACK TO LIFE LIKE GAJEEL, JUVIA, AND GRAY DID! LUCY, YOU BETTER REWRITE THOSE PAGES AND BRING HIM BACK! That's my theory anyway….phew! Gotta calm down…and wait another week! *cries***

 **Disclaimer: If I owned Fairy Tail, NaLu would already be cannoned**

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Tree House (Ch. 5)

Lucy was already at the tree house when Natsu arrived and the moment he climbed up the tree into the small trapdoor, she could immediately tell that something was wrong before she even greeted him.

"You…look like you're in a bad mood," she said as Natsu closed the door. "You know, if you didn't want to hang out with me, it's no big deal, I can find something else to do."

"No no, I wanted to see you." Lucy blushed, but Natsu seemed unaffected, continuing, "It's just that…a friend of mine said something to me that kinda…got to me."

"Well, what is it?" Lucy asked, scooting closer to him.

Natsu sucked in a breath, hyper aware of Lucy literally half a hand's length away from him. He pushed his luck and cautiously leaned against her, shoulder-to-shoulder, delighted that she didn't push away. "Do you know what the biggest meme in Magnolia is?"

"The one about me? Yes, I hear it a lot."

"When I was leaving Fairy Tail, one of my friends said that to me…and it made me really mad."

"Natsu, that doesn't bother me. Actually, I think it's kinda funny," Lucy giggled. "That's honestly the best thing anyone says about my family. It's no big deal."

"But it is to me. Everyone thinks you're the worst person to ever exist because of your dad. You don't deserve that; you're the sweetest, kindest person I've ever met." Lucy went red again as Natsu looked down in shame, "Honestly, I've said my fair share of those memes and I'm sorry."

"That was before you met me," Lucy smiled, "It's okay."

"Even before I met you, when I thought you were terrible, saying those memes was not the right thing to do," Natsu said. "It just made us all bullies."

Lucy smiled, setting her head on his shoulder. "When you put it like that, yes, you're a jerk – you all are, but I forgive you…and your friends."

Natsu could feel his heart race at the closeness, "You're way too nice for your own good, Lucy." He smiled, setting his cheek on her head. " _She smells like vanilla,_ " his nose was in her hair, " _and rose._ " He sighed in delight; that's officially his new favorite smell.

"I want you to come to Fairy Tail with me tomorrow after school."

"What?!" Lucy lifted her head off his shoulder, looking him in the eye to see if he was serious. Her brown orbs widened when she saw that he was, "no way!"

"Why not?" Natsu cocked his head to the side.

"…You know why," she looked down.

"Hey," he hooked a finger under her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. Neither realized how close they were. "I'm not going to let them push you around. If you come in with me, they'll only ask for an explanation. A few days after that and they'll trust and look to you as a friend."

Lucy hummed, "I don't know…"

"I want them to know you as Just Lucy, not Lucy _Heartfilia_. If you won't do it for yourself, do it for me."

She hesitated, but nodded, completely mesmerized by his onyx eyes staring into her soul. "Okay, I'll go with you."

"Yea!" He let her go, pumping his fists in the air with the largest smile on this face. Lucy couldn't help but laugh, he was such a man-child…and his smile was beautiful. "You can just come home with me after school and meet my parents and my sister."

"Wendy?"

Natsu blinked, "how do you know Wendy?"

"Eep!" Lucy exclaimed, covering her mouth. "I-I don't know her!"

The smirk on Natsu's face was like no other, it meant that danger was coming. "hmm…" He suddenly pounced on her, causing her to shriek in surprise.

Lucy fell on her back with Natsu against her, chest-to-chest. Her blush intensified five times the amount it was the past two times and was about to push him off until she realized that his hands were on one of the most sensitive parts of her body, her waist.

"Tell me how you know her!" He demanded, smiling, tickling, and poking her pressure points.  
Lucy's laugh was arguably the most beautiful sound that could ever be heard. It had taken him off guard, for he had never heard her laugh this loud and hard. It made Natsu smile wider.

"Tell me," he poked her waist again.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! O-okay! H-Ha! Okay, I-I'll t-tell ha! Tell y-you! Ha! Ha! S-s-stop, N-Natsu!"

With great reluctance – he wanted to listen to her laugh more – Natsu crawled off Lucy, giving her a chance to catch her breath before helping her sit up.

"Well?" He laughed at her exhaustion.

She playfully punched his shoulder, "I hate you."

He lightly punched her back, still smiling wider than anyone Lucy had ever seen before, "Hate you too."

"So, earlier today, your sister stole your phone and texted me behind your back. That's how I know her."

His onyx eyes widened, "she what?! That little brat! She knows she shouldn't take my stuff, especially my phone!" He pouted, mumbling about all the different ways to punish her when he got back home, but then he suddenly turned back to the blonde. "I'm sorry she bothered you."

Lucy shook her head, "she didn't. I was bored and she was pleasant company. You were too busy doing whatever it was."

"Is she more pleasant than me?" He leaned down toward her face; his arms were still crossed and he smirked at her as if daring her to say yes. His pink bangs brushed against hers and Lucy found herself blushing again.

"Well, in general, no, but it was nice to actually have a conversation with a girl. When she said you were coming back and she had to go, I was little upset…no offence."

Natsu leaned away, "none taken. You don't have to worry about that tomorrow though. You'll be meeting all my friends in Fairy Tail. They'll all love you when they get to know you."

"I hope so…"

"They will; trust me."

"…I trust you."

The two stared at each other for a moment, mesmerized by each other's hair, eyes, and face. Lucy blinked, scanning Natsu's face and stuffing every detail about him into the back of her mind. " _There's no way I'm crushing on a boy I met a week ago…no way at all._ " Even if they met simply a week ago, Lucy felt like she knew him her entire life; she wished that was the case. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, he simply had a blank expression on his face and in his eyes, but the way he was looking at her had her hoping that he was thinking the same thing.

A gust of wind blew through the tree house, causing a loud creaking noise, snapping the two out of it.

"Uh…" Lucy blushed, looking away. Why was she just staring at him like that?

"Um…didn't you s-say that you were going to bring a board game?"

"Oh!" Lucy smiled, still red, but ignoring that fact. "Yes, I did!"

"Great!" Natsu smiled back, sitting in a criss-cross position, "let's play!"

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After their usual hourly study in the library, Natsu walked Lucy to his truck in the school parking lot. It was in this moment that he remembered a very important fact.

"Ah shoot!" Natsu exclaimed, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk.

Lucy turned to him, "what is it?"

"I forgot about your dad. He'd want you home after school, I'm sure."

Lucy smiled, "he would, yes, but he's on a _business trip!_ " At the end of the sentence, she was squealing, jumping around in joy.

Natsu stared at her, "you are so weird."

"Hey!"

He chuckled, "that's great! How long will he be gone for?"

"Normally he's gone for a week, allowing me to shop and expand my horizon for seven days before everything goes back to the way it was; however, he has extra places he needs to be, so he's going to be gone for _two_ _weeks_!" She was squealing again.

"You're being weird again…"

"You jerk!"

"Ow! Don't hit me!"

"That's what you get for being a jerk, Jerkface."

"Why're you so mean?"

"I'm not mean!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Am not!"

Natsu laughed. Even if she was being weird, he was happy to see her so overjoyed. "So you're dad's gone for two weeks?"

"Yup!" She popped be p, smiling.

"Is he gone now?"

"Mmmhmm!" The blonde nodded brightly.

"Then this is my opportunity…" He rubbed his hands together as if forming an evil plot. With a writer's mind like Lucy's, it actually worried her. She imagined the world exploding, world domination, life sentence to prison, pulling all-nighters….ugh she could go on…

"O-opportunity for w-what exactly?"

"To show you what it's like outside of school and that neighborhood!" He pumped his fist in the air. "you need to know what freedom is!"

Lucy was scared…but excited. She couldn't wait to get started; she smiled at him.

"We will start with Fairy Tail, my favorite place on earth!"

"Speaking of which, shouldn't we get going?"

"Oh! Yes, we should! Let's go."

Lucy watched the trees fly by as Natsu drove. Every once in a while, he would take his eyes off the road for a split second, watching the blonde smile to herself with a hand out the window, fighting the wind pressure. It filled him with joy.

"Why are we pulling into the middle school?" Lucy asked as they parked in outside the front doors.

"I gotta pick up Wendy. She's about to released."

"Oh! That's right! How could I forget about her?"

"You're gonna have to scoot over."  
Lucy turned to him, "huh?"

Natsu's truck only had three seats…well, it was really two, seeing that the middle was a place to put baggage, but it could also be used as a seat with a seatbelt simply going around the waist. This is the seat Natsu gestured Lucy to sit in.

"It'll be easier for Wendy to get in if you scoot over," he gestured for her to move once again, but Lucy simply went red, staring at him. "Come on, I don't bite. You know that."

"O-okay," she muttered, unbuckling herself and scooting over. She buckled herself and pulled tightly to keep herself secured.

Natsu wrapped an arm around her, pulling her flush up against him. Shoulder-to-shoulder, hip-to-hip, knee-to-knee and the strangest thing was, was that Lucy liked it. In fact, she wanted to be a little closer…so she set her head on his shoulder, blushing madly.

"Tired?" Natsu asked, blushing himself, setting his own head against hers and breathing in the smell of her hair.

"Uh huh," she replied, closing her eyes.

"You must've stayed up too late last night."

"Yeah, with you! I didn't get back home until ten-thirty! Because of that, my dad was lecturing me about boring business so I didn't get to bed until eleven…I blame you."  
"Why me?"  
"Because I can."

Natsu chuckled, hugging her closer to him, "you're so weird, Luce…"

"…L-Luce?" She looked up at him.

"O-oh! Sorry," Natsu was redder than before. Did he really just call her that? "I-I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's okay," the blonde smiled, settling her head back onto his shoulder, "I like it."

Natsu blinked, pausing, "oh…well in that case, you got a new nickname."

She giggled, "yea!"

It was silent for a while after that, just simply the two enjoying each other's embrace and company. It was sweet and peaceful…and Lucy swore she was going to fall asleep.

Then the door opened and the couple looked up.

"Hey, Natsu! How was-"

Lucy stared at a small, but simply adorable dark blue haired girl blink coffee eyes at her. This was Wendy?! She looked _nothing_ like Natsu! Not even their skin tone was the same! She was fair and he was tanned. The two must've gotten their looks strictly from one parent.

"Um…" Wendy muttered.

Lucy broke the ice, smiling and waving, "hi Wendy! I'm Lucy."

Her eyes immediately lit up, "oh my gosh! _You're_ Lucy?! You're so much prettier than I imagined you to be!" She hopped into the seat, shutting the truck door behind her.

The first thing she expected would pop out of the girl's mouth was definitely not a compliment, but it was a pleasant surprise. "Thank you! You're very pretty too!"

"It's finally nice to meet you in person," the little girl smiled as Natsu started the truck again. Even though he had taken his arm off her shoulders, they were still pressed together.

"You too!"

"By the way, Wendy," Natsu's voice was venomous, "care to explain to me why you stole my phone yesterday?!"

"Huh?!" Her eyes widened in panic and she turned back to Lucy, "you told him?!"  
"He was torturing me! I had no choice! It was a life or death situation!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I was tickling you."

"Yeah yeah, whatever, it was torture for me."

"Natsu," Wendy explained, "I swear it wasn't my idea! It was Mira, Levy, and Gray! They wanted to know who Aquarius was and set me up!"

"Of course it would be dang Ice Princess!"  
"It was also Mira and Levy though."

"Yeah, but I'm going to put all the blame on Gray anyway so I can kick his butt for it," Natsu smiled widely, turning left into the neighborhood.

Lucy turned to the pink haired boy in surprise, "you…talk about me?"

Natsu went red and desperately tried to focus on driving, but it was hard when she was not even sitting an inch away from him and staring at him with those beautiful chocolate eyes of hers, "u-uhhh…."

"We see him text you all the time and Gray ended up taking his phone and telling the whole guild that he was texting 'Aquarius'."

"Oh! That's what happened!" Lucy exclaimed, remembering the text she got from Gray.

"Um, no offence, but what exactly are you doing here, Lucy?"

"She's coming to Fairy Tail with us," Natsu answered for her, "I invited her."

"Oh, how awesome! I can't wait for you to meet all our friends!"

Lucy bit her lip, "I'm a little nervous actually."

"Why is that?"

She didn't answer; she wasn't just about to tell Wendy that she was a Heartfilia, but she was happy that Natsu's cute little sister hadn't recognized her as one. She was sure she'd know when they arrived at Fairy Tail; hopefully she'll back Natsu up.

Thankfully, Natsu had pulled into his driveway at that moment, saving her from answering. Lucy observed the house: it was small, but adorable and she loved it. It was definitely a pleasant change from the largest mansion-like house on the block.

"Your house is really cute," She complimented. She didn't really know who that was directed to, but both Wendy and Natsu responded in a happy "thanks!".

Natsu helped Lucy out of his truck, locking it behind him and leading her to the front door with Wendy towed in the back behind them.

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 **I hope you all enjoyed! This is pretty long and I'm having fun writing this. I would've made it longer, but it's 12:30 in the morning and this was a good stopping point. I think I'll write the next chapter of this before I move onto the fourth chapter of "Eruption". Thanks for reading!**

 **-zEllie**


	6. Chapter 6

**Another chapter coming at ya!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Tree House (Ch. 6)

Lucy forgot about Natsu's parents; they would recognize her too. She was worried about how they would react and became very nervous as Natsu and Wendy led her toward the front door. She tightened her grip on Natsu's hand for support and surprised herself: she didn't even know they were holding hands. He must've not let go when he helped her out of the truck…For some reason, Lucy didn't mind.

Natsu looked at her, smiled, and squeezed her hand back, opening the front door, "don't worry, they'll love you!"

Wendy ran straight in, "Mom! Dad! We're home!"

"Wendy!" As Natsu brought Lucy into his house, the blonde spotted a dark blue haired woman. She looked just like an older version of Wendy; her hair was up in a sloppy bun and wrinkles were beginning to show on her pale face, but she was just as beautiful as her daughter. She hugged the small girl tightly and went back to the cleaning the kitchen. "How was school?"

"It was great! Is Dad home yet?"

"No, he had to work an extra hour."

"Aww…Guess what though, Mom?" Wendy set her schoolbag down, standing next to her mother.

"What is it?"

Wendy giggled, setting her hand against her mouth, "Natsu brought a gi~rl ho~me!"

Lucy heavily blushed, hiding it with her hands as Natsu led her into the kitchen, "wow, thanks, Wendy," he sarcastically commented.

Natsu's mother looked up from wiping down the counters at Natsu, then Lucy, and then to their connected entwined fingers.

When she observed Lucy, the blonde felt herself suck in a breath nervously. What was she going to say? Was she going to say, "Natsu! Why are you with Lucy Heartfilia?! What is the meaning of this?!"? Lucy didn't quite know what to think, but she bit her lip.

Instead, surprisingly, Natsu's mother smiled, saying, "My, my, Natsu. I didn't know you were dating anyone."

"We're not dating," he corrected her, "We're just friends. Lucy meet Mom; Mom meet Lucy."

Lucy smiled, still surprised, but glad the lady hadn't recognized her. It was strange that an adult like herself didn't know her, but Lucy liked not being recognized. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Dragneel," she held out her hand.

"Oh, please, call me Grandine," the blue haired lady replied, shaking her hand gently. "It's very nice to meet you too, Lucy. Forgive me for saying you two were dating."

"You're fine," Lucy replied, "don't worry about it."

Grandine resumed to wiping down the counters, "so what brings you here?"

"I'm going to take her to Fairy Tail," Natsu replied proudly, grinning with that monstrous smile of his. "She's going to meet all my friends."

"Oh! Well, have fun! Fairy Tail is a very great place. I'm sure you'll love it there, Lucy."

"Do you plan on joining?" Wendy asked eagerly, smiling brightly like Natsu. Even though her smile didn't stretch across her face, it was still just as beautiful.

Natsu turned to her, wondering that same thing and hoping it was a yes.

"Uh…I don't know yet. I'll have to see."

Natsu frowned, but didn't remain unhappy. The last time he asked her, she said no. Even though it still wasn't a yes, it definitely wasn't a no anymore. That was better than before.

"Well, okay then," Wendy replied.

"Should we go now?" Natsu asked.

"Did you two finish your homework?" Grandine asked, "you two know my rules: no going to Fairy Tail until homework is done."

"Mo~m…" Natsu groaned, hiding his blushing of embarrassment with his scarf. She just _had_ to do that in front of the girl he was crushing on. Lucy just giggled though and Natsu found himself thinking that it was worth it: being embarrassed just to hear her giggle.

"Oh, no," Wendy looked down, "I still have homework…"

"We don't," Lucy said, smiling, "Natsu and I did ours in the library after school. He told me that you would kick him out of Fairy Tail if his grades didn't go up so I'm helping him out."

Grandine seemed surprised, but pleased, "Are you? Well, thank you, I really appreciate that. He always says that he would raise his grades, but they would just keep going down. My husband and I had to put in a consequence."

"Mo~m…" Natsu groaned again, blushing. This was _so_ embarrassing! Lucy giggled again though and it was totally worth it.

"It's no big deal; I'm happy to help."

"Hey Mom," Wendy asked, "Can I do my homework tonight when we get back home from Fairy Tail? _Please?_ I promise I'll do it first thing."

"No, Wendy. I've heard this before and you would just end up falling asleep on the couch. You do your homework now."  
Wendy pouted.

"We can wait for you, Wendy," Natsu said, "its no big deal."

Lucy nodded in agreement.

Wendy's face lit up, "okay! It won't take me too long. I promise."

"That's fine," Lucy smiled, but then suddenly gasped, turning to Natsu. "Don't you have cats?!"

He smiled back, "yes, I do! Come on!" He led her out of the room and up the stairs; his hand was still in hers.

"Those two are going to get together," Grandine stated as she began to wash the dishes.

Wendy pulled out her science book, giggling, "Yeah, I know."

"Happy!" Natsu called, opening the door to his bedroom, "Happy!" He whistled.

Lucy walked in after him, finally letting go of his hand and allowed herself to observe his room. It was a boring, dark grey color, but the walls were covered in posters of his favorite bands. Some Lucy recognized, loved, and hadn't heard of and almost all of them were signed. " _How many concerts has he been to?!_ " She hadn't been to a single one.

Her eyes trailed to his bed that was black with flames all over it. Over across the top was the occasional blue fur that she assumed was Happy's. Lucy didn't own any pets and wasn't accustomed to shedding nor was she a big fan of fur everywhere, but sat on his bed anyway and observed the rest of his room.

There was a small wooden table with a computer on it along with a cup of sharpened pencils. The desk chair was black with flames to match his bed and the white walk-in-closet was ajar. On the floor in the corner was a pet bed.

"There you are, Happy!" Natsu exclaimed, bringing her attention back to him. An adorable blue cat had jumped onto the bed next to her and Lucy smiled brightly, petting him.

"Aww! You are so cute!" She giggled when he nuzzled his head against her lap and purred.

"He likes you," Natsu commented, sitting on the other side of Happy.

"I love you too!" She exclaimed, listening to him purr. She preferred dogs over cats, but loved any and all animals; she would open a zoo if she could. She had actually considered it and asked her father, but he, of course, said no. Lucy voiced his out loud to Natsu.

"He should've let you," he chuckled at her weird idea, but she was weird and he loved it so that's okay. "That would be so awesome."

"I know right?"

It was silent for a moment after that and Natsu watched as Lucy's delicate hand slid back and forth over the cat's back who was practically sitting in her lap. "Do you want to go to the tree house?" He asked her.

Lucy looked up at him, slowing her petting. "Do we have time?"

"Yeah, I live right next to it."

"You do?"

"Yeah," the pink haired boy stood up, taking Lucy hand in his again and pulling her out the door, down the stairs, through the kitchen again, past the two ladies, and out the back door. They were on the deck now with a grill, table, and chairs. The two leaned against the railing and Natsu nodded right. Next to the Dragneel Household, not even a house away was the small forest in the center of the neighborhood. The tree house resided not that deep within it.

"Wow you weren't kidding that you live right next to it!" Lucy exclaimed. "I actually go by your house to get there."

"You do?" He looked at her; they were shoulder-to-shoulder.

"Yeah," she responded. Two houses away to the left of them was a street. When walking to the tree house, Lucy would turn there and walk through the backyards of the households. Turns out one of them were the Dragneel's. She pointed as she spoke, "to walk from here to back home, I walk down that street, turn a corner, another corner, and then another…"

"You lost me by the first corner," he chuckled.

Lucy gently shoved him as he laughed, but Natsu just pushed back, grinning. She was so much fun to mess with.

"Oh!" Lucy exclaimed, looking down at the railing she was leaning against, "so you're the ones with the awesome deck!" She went around him, walking down the steps onto the grass. She was in front of them now and craned her neck to look up at him.

"It's not that cool," Natsu replied, setting his chin on his hand, gazing down at her. The deck wasn't even that big and the light brown color sickened him, but his parents and Wendy loved it.

"It's cool to me. As big as my house is, we don't have a deck. We have a wrap-around porch, but not a deck."

"Wrap-around porches are cool." The porch the Dragneel's had was small. It was big enough for two people to stand on, plus a plant. That was it.

"You get sick of them after a while…" Lucy replied.

"I still think they're cool."

The blonde shrugged and brushed her hair behind her ears, an act Natsu found adorable. On the grass below him, he was about a foot taller than her as she gazed up at him with full-moon eyes.

Lucy suddenly giggled, "Rapunzel, let down your hair."

He grinned, scratching the back of his head, "sorry, my hair ain't long enough!"

She began to laugh loudly, which was something she didn't normally do and it completely hypnotized the pink haired boy. It was so beautiful, like music…

"Why're you staring at me?" Lucy asked him as soon as her laughing settled.

"Because I love your laugh," He had nothing to lose; this girl was like an angel, "It's beautiful."

"Oh…Well thank you," she smiled at him, pushing her hair behind her ears again. "I'll have to laugh more often."

"Please do, I'm all ears."

She giggled again.

"Natsu! Lucy! I'm all done!" Wendy pushed open the slide door.

"That was fast," Lucy commented coming back up the stairs.

"I'm a hard worker and can be very fast when I'm determined," Wendy smiled. "Are you ready to go? Mom gave the consent."

"Yeah!" Natsu exclaimed, "let's go!"

Lucy's heart thumped in dire nervousness…

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Wendy was inside of Fairy Tail as soon as Natsu parked his truck, leaving the couple alone. When Lucy exited the vehicle, she looked toward the front doors, biting her lip and tapping her foot nervously.

"Hey," Natsu took a hold of her hand again, standing next to her. "Relax, okay? Just be nice and kind like you always are and you'll be okay. If anything gets out of hand, let me deal with it."

Lucy bit her lip again, still tapping her foot, but nodded and took a deep breath, "okay. Let's go…"

When they walked through the front doors, hand-in-hand, they weren't bombarded with questions like Lucy imagined. However, the atmosphere exceeded her expectations. Everyone was really loud and active: chatting, chatting, and chatting, brawling, brawling, and brawling. It was extremely lively; it surprised her.

Natsu was leading her toward the bar as she looked around the ecstatic place. It was amazingly bright and surprisingly…homey.

Despite her nervousness, this place felt like welcoming home – a _real_ home and not what she was living in.

Lucy had been inside of Fairy Tail for less than a minute, hadn't talked to anyone and yet she already loved it here.

"Are you hungry?" Natsu suddenly asked her, gaining her attention on him.

She nodded, "yes." It was five-thirty and she was starving.

"What do you want?"

"Whatever you're having."

Natsu raised an eyebrow, "are you sure? I like really spicy food."

She smiled, "I can handle it."

That large grin of his broke out onto his face, "alrighty then."

Taking another deep breath, Lucy stood next to Natsu as he ordered. The beautiful white-haired bartender was staring at her…

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 **I hope you enjoyed! The fourth chapter of "Eruption" is up next. I did two chapters of this, it's time to move onto something else.**

 **-zEllie**


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